"Dad, I'm home!" Opening the back door, Laurence announced her return. She placed the baskets in the kitchen and looked everywhere for Dad, but he was nowhere to be found. A smirk appeared on her face. Thinking that this was a perfect timing to proceed with her plan, Laurence snuck out of the house. A thought came to her mind and caused her to halt midway between the gate and the tavern. It was never a good idea to leave the house without a person guarding it. But how come Dad left without locking the door or informing Laurence? Three factors contradicted her. She wanted to go with her plans, but what if Dad finds out that she had left the house by itself? Also, where the hell is Dad? Laurence had no idea what to do. 'Maybe I should just lock the doors, but does Dad have the keys?' She thought to herself. Laurence knew that Dad was no fool. If any, he was the wisest amongst them. 'Yes, I should probably lock the doors. Dad probably has the keys.' Laurence proceeded to lock every door, leaving the gate unlocked for herself.
"Why're you trying to lock the gates?" Abruptly appearing behind her, Dad asked a sudden question. Suprised, Laurence jolted and looked at her father.
"Dad, I umm... I was just locking the door because I was going to take a bath. You weren't here, and I suspected that you have the keys. I'm sorry..." Laurence indecisively told her father.
"I was out to deal with something. If you were going to take a bath, how come I don't see you bringing your spare clothes?" Dad intently locked his eyes with Laurence's. Still caught in the haziness of being spooked, Laurence could only stare back.
"That's right! I forgot to bring my clothes! Thanks, Dad, for reminding me!" Laurence exclaimed, hoping to get out of the dire situation. Dad let out a smug face and kept on staring at Laurence. Sweat began emerging on her forehead.
"Ah, that's right! I'll go back insi-!!" Laurence said as she turned away from Dad and tried opening the door, only to find out that she had locked it.
"Try using the back door." Dad said in a calm voice.
"Dad... I'm sorry. I might have locked every door. May I please borrow your keys?"
"I don't have the keys..." Dad let out a sigh as he replied to Laurence. The three of them have an identical set of keys used for the house locks. Dad forgot to bring his keys, so the best plan is to wait for Greg. But what if the Great Sage left the province after their meeting? Laurence now truly regret not bringing her keys with her.
"You're hopeless..." Dad said as he walked towards the front gate. He took out a small box from his pocket and opened it. Laurence bobbed her head to check out its contents, but she was too short.
"Hold the lock. Make sure the hole is facing me and that you do not block the view, no matter how curious you are." Laurence frowned upon hearing the words of her father. She did what her father asks her to do. Dad took out two identical specialized pins from the box and began picking the lock. Luckily, he knows the structure of the insides. In a moment, a clinking sound is made, and the lock opened. Laurence wasted no time. She took out the lock and gave it to her father before going inside. Laurence went past the dining hall and then the kitchen, then went upstairs to grab her clothes and keys. She scurried towards the same route to exit the tavern.
"On second thought, maybe you could go take a bath later. I just went to apologize to the customers for opening up late. We didn't have the ingredients to make the dishes, and you sure did take time buying them." Dad said as he gestured for Laurence to halt.
"Dad, it's already past noon. Isn't it too late to open up for us?" Laurence questioned.
"That would ruin our good reputation." Dad replied.
"Oh please, the only customers we get are traveling folks and passersby. They're not long term customers. Can we please have the day off?" Laurence asked.
"I guess you're right, but today we might close late since Greg is attending an important meeting. Also, I wouldn't just close the tavern so you could take a bath." Dad answered Laurence.
"Please, Dad, just for today..." Laurence pleaded in a weak tone. She held no chance of beating her father's logical thinking. Compared to Greg, Dad placed more thoughts on situations.
Dad gave a long sigh and said, "Alright, fine. I rarely make decisions like this, but I think it would be a good idea to have a day-off today. It wouldn't be good if all of us are tired. Especially your brother Greg who had just gone to a meeting. Well, he was no good at listening."
Laurence hit the jackpot. She couldn't believe that she'd managed to convince Dad and so she gleefully went outside. Laurence didn't head towards the bathhouse, but she was lucky enough that her father didn't notice her. Laurence headed for something else.
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The meeting was held outside the guild. It was free for the public to hear, or rather, it's placed outside so that the people would know of the meeting.
"Shh! Quiet! The Great Sage is about to announce something important!" The people tried to lessen the noise. Once tranquility has replaced the boisterous aura that lingered a while ago, The Great Sage stood up from His chair and prepared to talk about the last announcement.
"I had received a vision from my dreams last night. The Evil Sorcerer will awaken to terrorize the world." As the Great Sage said this, the crowd was perplexed, and chattering began to fill the area.
"Sush!" Cassandra hissed as she glared at the crowd.
"It is time to pick the hero who's worthy enough to wield the Sword of Light." The Great Sage said.
"But who's worthy enough to be announced as hero?" The man that Laurence has annoyed looked at his master and asked.
A vast silence has occurred. The Great Sage inhaled and puffed up smokes from his smoking pipe. Then He pointed at someone on the far end of the crowd and said, "It's her. The next destined hero to stop calamities." Everyone looked at the person.
"Huh?" The nonplussed Laurence had no clue why everyone's looking at her.